Monday 30 April 2018

Annual Research Meeting of the School of Clinical Dentistry: Report

This year the format for our annual meeting was changed, firstly to celebrate 10 years since the official opening of our (then) new Research Wing by Professor Sir Mark Walport, and also to incorporate a Festschrift for our former Dean Professor Paul Speight.  We were welcomed to the event by Professor Dame Pamela Shaw, Vice President of the Faculty of Medicine.
In my opening address, I emphasised the importance of oral health research, in particular the scale and diversity of current challenges ranging from poor cancer survival rates through to the negative impact of common dental diseases on quality of life. These are not abstract problems; in addition to human suffering, oral health challenges have a major impact on the UK economy through lost working hours and poor school attendance, as well as direct costs to the NHS. For these reasons, the School of Clinical Dentistry works closely with both healthcare providers and industry to carry out research of the highest standard to better understand the major challenges in oral health, and so to develop better therapies, technologies, and interventions. Moreover, our researchers go beyond  “discovery science” to investigate the impact of poor oral health on patients and societies, and to identify effective tools to better motivate individuals to take responsibility for their personal oral health. 
It was noted that since the opening of the research wing in 2008, we have published over 1100 full papers in peer reviewed journals, graduated 127 PhDs (with over 50 currently studying for a PhD), and received over £11million of research funding, confirming our place as a world leading centre for oral and dental research. I concluded my presentation with a brief review of our extensive industrial collaboration, and explained how UK Industrial Strategy represented an important opportunity to highlight to government the positive impact of our research on innovation and economic growth.
We were therefore delighted that Dr Steve Mason, the Medical Director for Oral Health at GSK, accepted our invitation to provide a keynote address on industrial drivers of research. He gave a superb overview of their work and current research priorities, as well as insights into deeper strategic thinking and the importance of research ethics to GSK. Given the importance of UK Industrial Strategy in shaping future research funding, a greater understanding of where academic, clinical, and business priorities align is important in developing a coherent message for the new UK Research Office (UKRO).
Other sessions focussed on our research excellence, with talks based on some of our very best “4*” publications, our multidisciplinary collaborations that included work with industry and the NHS, and the positive impact of our research via either the translation of science from the laboratory to a clinical setting or improved interventions for patient and societal benefit.  These sessions collectively emphasised the tremendous multi-disciplinarity of our research community, and the range of healthcare challenges where we had already made a positive difference to quality of life.
Day One ended with a Festschrift for Professor Paul Speight, not only our former Dean but also a world leading clinical researcher and pathologist.  His status as an internationally leading oral pathologist, and the importance of his personal research, were very evident from a series of talks from individuals who had studied under Paul and gone on – inspired by him – to become eminent themselves.  Speakers included Professors David Moles, Paul Brocklehurst, John Marshall, and Richard Jordan who had travelled all the way from San Francisco. In addition Paul’s demonstrable scientific and clinical contributions, the importance of more human elements in research success were made very clear by all the speakers at this Festschrift, including inspiration, high standards, integrity, respect, and friendship.  This theme continued with our celebratory dinner at the Cutlers Hall.
Day two of the meeting was given over to the School’s early career researchers and PhD students to show their considerable talent and ability. The standard was exceptionally high, and this was a timely reminder that a research environment relies heavily on hard working, bright and motivated clinical and non-clinical postdoctoral staff and students.  While all of the talks and posters were excellent and it was therefore difficult to agree on the award of prizes, a number were eventually selected. Congratulations to the prize winners: Ashley Towers for his talk on virtual reality in dental education, Areeg Elmusrati and Mariam Khokhar who shared the poster prize, and Katharina Clitherow for the popular “Gone in 60 seconds” presentation where she used a video animation to explain research into adhesive patches for drug delivery to oral soft tissues.
Overall this was a superb research meeting, certainly one of the best the School has put together, and it provided a good opportunity to reflect on the distinctive work of our multi-disciplinarily community.  This reflection is important, as it helps to (re)define both our internal priorities as well as how to  best showcase our work for an external audience.  My view is still that the wider world - including elements within universities, government, and the media - do not really understand oral health and the important research conducted by the leading UK dental schools.  Without understanding either the challenges or the benefits of our excellent research (to the economy as well as patients and society), it is difficult for them to make sound decisions with respect to funding priorities.  It is vital then that we use the lessons from our Annual Research Meeting to communicate the importance of our work even more effectively.
Despite these personal concerns, I am encouraged that there are also many senior figures who do appreciate the multi-disciplinarity of our research, as well as the complexity of challenges in oral health and as its connectedness to wider issues. Professor Sir Mark Walport, the head of the new UK Research Office that will be very influential in shaping national investment for the foreseeable future, opened our “new” wing in 2008.  He very kindly sent the School a personal message in recognition of this 10 year celebration, and I quote from it here:
“Many congratulations on the 10thAnniversary of the opening of your research wing.  It was my hope when I opened the wing in 2008 that it would allow Sheffield to build on its excellent record in dental research, and it’s evident that this has come to fruition….Congratulations also on your excellent work at Sheffield – you are focusing on publishing research of the highest quality and collaborating with external partners to maximise the impact of this research. You have an important role to play in communicating the importance of oral health research.”
I believe that UKRO will bring many benefits by better integrating the different sponsors of research in the UK (primarily the Research Councils and Innovate UK).  Given that our community is truly multi-disciplinary, and the problems we are addressing frequently span social science, medicine, and engineering, any improvements in the coordination of funding for interdisciplinary research will be good for oral health research. The challenge for us now - not just at Sheffield but also in all leading UK Dental Schools and with our industrial partners - is to even more effectively communicate the importance of our research for the benefit of UK society and the economy.This year’s annual research meeting is an important part of the process that will inform both our thinking and planning at Sheffield.